Changing fork oil - having problems

[DLivingston]

I am trying to change the fork oil and probably replace fork seals on my '14. I have gotten to the point where I loosen the damper rod assembly bolt and am stuck.

After reading several posts on the issue here and in the service manual, it seems I am supposed to hold the damper rod while loosening (removing?) the assembly bolt. I am not sure what holding the damper rod is supposed to do - it turns freely and moves in and out freely. Further, the damper rod assembly bolt will not remove - it just spins around and around.

I imagine that I need to get this out to remove the outer tube to get to the seal as that will not remove either: it is as if there is something holding it on, which I imagine is the bushings. I did remove (slide down) the wiper and retaining clip - just cannot get any further with anything. Any hints?

 

[EricV]

Why do you feel you need to replace the fork seals on your '14?

If you're just doing the oil, no need to further disassemble things.

There is apparently a special tool to hold the damper rod when loosening the damper rod assembly bolt. (Damper rod holder 90890-01423 and Damping rod holder YM-01423)

 

[DLivingston]

I was not able to use a seal mate to clean out whatever is making the seals leak, so at this point it is probably a new seal.

I was trying it without the special tools as it seems that several on here have done it and it is "no problem". I am 4 hours into this one fork and cannot yet get to the seal to see if it needs replacing or just a good cleaning.

 

[EricV]

Have you watched the videos in this thread? : http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=5526.0 Does not appear you need to take the rod assembly out to get to the seals. O

Just something for down the road, but it's a good idea to use fork seal covers/protectors. Kriega, Dirt Skins and MORE offer some, as do others. I have 95k miles on the original oil seals, always park in the garage on the center stand and have never had a leaking fork seal. 160k on the previous bike and no leaks on that either, with no fork seal covers, (FJR), but it had protectors built in and was not inverted forks.

 

[DLivingston]

I've got some fork seal covers NOW - along with a set of fork guard on top of THOSE. Now I just have to fix my shortsightedness. :

I got a little cro-magnon and used a little more force to get the outer tube off than I was using before and it finally came off. I guess I was following the manual's recommendation to "not use excessive force" a little too closely.

 

[EricV]

Glad you got it sorted. Good luck with the rest, I hope it goes smoothly.

What weight oil do you plan to use?

 

[DLivingston]

Going with 5wt.

Another part of this - since I was going to have to take them apart anyway - was a new set of .90 linear springs from Stoltec.

Still trying to figure out the damper rod / assembly bolt. The bolt just spins around and around - like it is not "catching" the threads of something or another. Where it would be easy after the *first*, but not so easy when all I am doing is feeling around in the dark on this (it seems).

 

[DLivingston]

OK - so the damper rod assembly bolt finally DID catch and tighten. Those must be some really fine threads on the other end of that damper rod. After the fact: did not need to mess with that bolt for what I am doing - will go easier on the other fork.

Those videoa DID help - not sure why I did not catch those two videos earlier.

 

[EricV]

One of the quirks of this forum is that when you post in a thread, after you post it pops back to the sub forum, and shows a list of related threads below. I caught that thread after posting to this one, explored it and saw it might be useful for you, so posted the link.'

Just something to consider next time you're searching for something. Glad you're making progress. ::008::